I have been reading Lisa Gardner’s novels for years, and ONE STEP TOO FAR is unlike any I have enjoyed to date. The setting is not her typical New England, but the national forest and mountains of Wyoming. Yes, it still features her top-notch plotting and whodunit characterization, but in a completely different element.

The book revolves around a missing person who has been lost for a while, and several attempts have already failed. The young man in question is Timothy O’Day, who went camping with some buddies and then simply disappeared without a trace. His wealthy father, Martin, is now funding a new mission made up of different experts who he believes might be able to succeed where all others haven’t.

"All of the characters in this tight, claustrophobic group are quickly trapped, even in this great wide open national forest, and they may have gone too far out to save themselves. What a fun ride to be had!"

In ONE STEP TOO FAR, we welcome back Frankie Elkin, who readers met in BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED. An expert at locating missing people, Frankie is not given a terribly warm welcome upon joining the search party, primarily because she is not a hiker or camper. She is constantly on the defensive and forced to prove her place on the team by showing the importance of her expertise and the difference it might make.

Frankie befriends a couple of other outsiders who were also invited: Luciana, whose companion is a cadaver dog named Daisy, and Bob, who is a Bigfoot expert. Frankie has great fun with their tour guide, Nemeth, as they prepare to confront Bigfoot or Yeti on their trail. Their first day ends uneventfully, but a scream in the middle of the night changes everything. Scott, a member of the party, is bloodied from a few deep scratches and can’t stop babbling about having seen Tim.

Some supplies go missing the next day, which unfortunately starts to become a common occurrence. Later on, Neil gets briefly sidetracked and is found with a bloody gash on his head. It is assumed that he merely fell and hit his head on a rock. That evening, he begins to nervously banter about how he and the others who were on that initial camping trip lied and had Tim killed.

The search party becomes so freaked out and paranoid that they decide to start heading down. Unfortunately, there is at least one person who does not want anyone to get back. Frankie’s skills at recognizing life and death situations are always keen. Right now, they’re telling her that for the very first time in her life, she is not the hunter --- she is the prey.

The last third of the book is exactly as the title points out. All of the characters in this tight, claustrophobic group are quickly trapped, even in this great wide open national forest, and they may have gone too far out to save themselves. What a fun ride to be had!